Bush Space Proposals Are Sheer Lunacy

Re "3, 2, 1, 0 ... Wait a Second," editorial, Jan. 14: Man's history on this planet is one of destruction and killing wherever he goes. Mass extinction and despoliation of the land and seas are ongoing and increasing in their pace. This calamity is accompanied by depletion of natural resources that took hundreds of millions of years to develop. Solution: Set up a colony on the moon! Some may get excited about this junk science; it just scares me. How about doing something useful on this planet first?

Warren Larson

Shadow Hills

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President Bush's plan to establish a manned colony on the moon and to send a manned mission to Mars is the most foolhardy thing yet. True, it will result in a lot of high-tech jobs. But what will we have to show for it? Not much. How about spending the same amount of money on a project that builds some infrastructure right here in the good old U.S.A.? How many photovoltaic-cell power plants could we build? Or subsidize homes to include solar power-generation systems? Or how about a high-speed train network for our country? More jobs could be created and there could be more diversification of the types of jobs, plus we would have something to show for it after we were done.

Robert Corzine

Ridgecrest

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Let's build a moon base! It's a fantastic opportunity. I know just who to send there as well: the one-tenth of 1% of Americans who have more assets than 50% of all Americans combined. These billionaires are so bright and talented that I just know that they can transform a bleak, barren wasteland into a wonderland, like an Ayn Rand utopia. Of course, it's possible they may find their dream has a flaw. They may find that you need the help of other people in order to prosper, and that paying a fair share of taxes is actually a bargain to have a world with water you can drink and air you can breathe.

Jim Hilliard

Torrance

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Bush wants to go to the moon. There are people in America who can't afford to go to the doctor. Where are our priorities?